I have a very convoluted series of observations and personal software choice challenges. It begins with the trend towards media as a service not as a commodity or good. When moving to a mobile platform you generally are picking a marketplace for limited use licenses. Meaning you don't own anything you purchase the ability to experience something. This is just outlining mobile as a service.

I'm pretty tied to the windows platform by default as its what my professional software suite operates on. But looking to expand into the mobile space I've already struggled enough with a ipad gen 3 not really blending fluidly with my desktop or android phone I'd rather never revisit apples playground sorry.

I mean to ask would I be sacrificing allot if I doubled down on a MS mobile strategy? Windows nokia phone and surface 2 pro to start, are there any major features missing from that platform? Moving from there a major point of contention is what note app (one note vs google) and calendar (outlook.com vs google) is best? I don't think google is supporting MS store yet(at time it feels like ms isn't either) and MS isn't fully present in the android space with their mobile/web products.

I have a win 8 desktop at home, at work, and would really appreciate many of the features that are exclusive to the surface 2 pro or equivalent device. I've spent the last several years migrating aimlessly between MS and Google Loyalty then trying a iOS device. Please weigh in on any or every part of my ramblings.

Well... since it sounds like you absolutely need tight inter-operability with Windows, MS would appear to be the logical choice. However, by going that route you're also betting on MS eventually "getting mobile right" (from both a technical and marketing perspective). If it was me I'd go Android, but my needs and wants are not the same as yours.

The years just pass like trains. I wave, but they don't slow down.-- Steven Wilson

Have you made a pro and cons list yet? If you went full speed with one platform e.g. Windows (phone, pc, tablet) or a mix Windows/Droid, what functionality will you gain or lose? Can you import window documents into google docs and not lose functionality? What research have you done on other forums?

What programs do you use on a daily basis that you want to have seamless interaction with?

Unfortunately the world is becoming fragmented (in a good and bad way) with the platforms out there. For gaming this is due to the programming differences between the 3 consoles and PC. For programs it is trying to get it to work on what flavor of OS you want to be on, the same with the mobile platform. Its nice to have these different flavors, but unlike ice cream, there are too many obstacles to enjoy them in a seamless way.

mvp324 wrote:Have you made a pro and cons list yet? If you went full speed with one platform e.g. Windows (phone, pc, tablet) or a mix Windows/Droid, what functionality will you gain or lose? Can you import window documents into google docs and not lose functionality? What research have you done on other forums?

Google docs and Office don't work well enough together with the functionality I need. I've been trying to make that work for the last year.

This is the first post I've made about this core issue. Trying to project how different tools will work across divergent platforms is really guess work. I can think of a dozen things I'll loose going with any one mobile platform. Additionally Ms is sort of in a transition, what with the long time CEO stepping down.

mvp324 wrote:What programs do you use on a daily basis that you want to have seamless interaction with?

mvp324 wrote:Unfortunately the world is becoming fragmented (in a good and bad way) with the platforms out there. For gaming this is due to the programming differences between the 3 consoles and PC. For programs it is trying to get it to work on what flavor of OS you want to be on, the same with the mobile platform. Its nice to have these different flavors, but unlike ice cream, there are too many obstacles to enjoy them in a seamless way.

Yeah its frustrating to see a platform promoting specific media. Music on iOS, Books on Kindle, everything else on Android, Office on win8, lol

If you can use the free solutions for your Office needs, you may be better off in terms of interoperability. I've yet to see a very good mobile experience for working with doc's and pdf's; I tend to use mobile just for viewing/accessing them, and don't make edits often.

If it was me I would get a windows 8.1 tablet with baytrail SoC or the more expensive i3 or i5 varieties and get a android phone. This way you can have microsoft and google with you most of the time. I currently only have a dumb phone but I'm thinking of getting a android phone, maybe a nexus 5 because not being able to use certain google applications is pretty annoying on the go. I got a windows 8.1 tablet to replace my nexus 7 so I'm really feeling that "platform divide"... but for me android just isn't good enough for productivity usage.... even simply office 2010, 2013 files doesn't work on android many times with the 3rd party office apps. often the charts gets messed up and things just doesn't even look right enough to read or review. PDFs work fine on android but office 2013 files with charts, figures, text boxes just get all funky on android. Also with a windows 8.1 tablet you can run other productivity software like photoshop, inkscape, data analysis software like graphpad prism, etc etc just about anything that runs on a desktop that doesn't need too much processing/graphics power. Also having it print to the network printer from my windows tablet was as simple as setting it up on my desktop. On the android you have to get an app that can do that, and even the best ones end up sometimes disorting or garbling up the document when it prints.

I'm surprised Gchat/hangouts and google play is not on MS app store. I thought swype is something available on all phones. I would say open office like C-A_99 mentioned, but I have no idea if they are even in the mobile platform yet, nor how well they play with MS documents

kamikaziechameleon wrote:Yeah its frustrating to see a platform promoting specific media. Music on iOS, Books on Kindle, everything else on Android, Office on win8, lol

Yep, I want to buy a Kindle for e-reading anywhere, and a iPad for everything else. If M$ was able to take a better view of Office and make it more compatible on different platforms I'd be sold. It is funny how M$ Office was able to drive other Office type programs into the ground.

I'm surprised Gchat/hangouts and google play is not on MS app store. I thought swype is something available on all phones. I would say open office like C-A_99 mentioned, but I have no idea if they are even in the mobile platform yet, nor how well they play with MS documents

kamikaziechameleon wrote:Yeah its frustrating to see a platform promoting specific media. Music on iOS, Books on Kindle, everything else on Android, Office on win8, lol

Yep, I want to buy a Kindle for e-reading anywhere, and a iPad for everything else. If M$ was able to take a better view of Office and make it more compatible on different platforms I'd be sold. It is funny how M$ Office was able to drive other Office type programs into the ground.

I can see a full 8.1 device, Media tablet(Probably a Nexus 10 since a kindle has not google apps support), and Android phone. Honestly I don't like samsung phones that was what pushed me away from android, that and HTC has already sold me garbage, simply on principle I want to deny them business. Motorola is a mess with how they handle updates and other things for their phones. The android maker market is a tough place to shop. Honestly Nokia phones are really well made, only issue being the win 8 os.

CB5000 wrote:If it was me I would get a windows 8.1 tablet with baytrail SoC or the more expensive i3 or i5 varieties and get a android phone. This way you can have microsoft and google with you most of the time. I currently only have a dumb phone but I'm thinking of getting a android phone, maybe a nexus 5 because not being able to use certain google applications is pretty annoying on the go. I got a windows 8.1 tablet to replace my nexus 7 so I'm really feeling that "platform divide"... but for me android just isn't good enough for productivity usage.... even simply office 2010, 2013 files doesn't work on android many times with the 3rd party office apps. often the charts gets messed up and things just doesn't even look right enough to read or review. PDFs work fine on android but office 2013 files with charts, figures, text boxes just get all funky on android. Also with a windows 8.1 tablet you can run other productivity software like photoshop, inkscape, data analysis software like graphpad prism, etc etc just about anything that runs on a desktop that doesn't need too much processing/graphics power. Also having it print to the network printer from my windows tablet was as simple as setting it up on my desktop. On the android you have to get an app that can do that, and even the best ones end up sometimes disorting or garbling up the document when it prints.

Ok, figured I'd try to work this out here but if you think I need to start a new thread let me know.

I'm trying to work out a Calendar solution that will work with outlook.com, outlook 2013, and on my nexus 5 android using all the default apps. I know there is no way to sync google calendar with outlook.com efficiently. I have a great ability to use outlook.com calendar in outlook 2013 and works perfect with the win 8.1 calendar app. Seems that there is no way to get it to work with my android phone so I can put appointments into the phone and have them show up on the actual outlook.com calendar...

kamikaziechameleon wrote:I'm trying to work out a Calendar solution that will work with outlook.com, outlook 2013, and on my nexus 5 android using all the default apps. I know there is no way to sync google calendar with outlook.com efficiently. I have a great ability to use outlook.com calendar in outlook 2013 and works perfect with the win 8.1 calendar app. Seems that there is no way to get it to work with my android phone so I can put appointments into the phone and have them show up on the actual outlook.com calendar...

Did you mean the Google Calendar app on your Nexus 5, or Google Calendar the service, similar to the calendar service provided by Outlook.com? The Calendar app on the Nexus 5 should be able to talk to outlook.com if you configure it as an Exchange account, then it should sync with outlook.com (unless you are running into this). OTOH, if you are talking about one calendar service to another calendar service, then I don't think any of them do them well and you may have to use a 3rd party app to push stuff from one calendar service to another.

I personally keep 2 calendar services and only view them both on my phone, the corporate one via Exchange, and my personal one on Google. I have my phone display both calendars. The thinking is that only on my phone will my work and personal lives intersect. You may have a different requirement though.

The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

kamikaziechameleon wrote:I'm trying to work out a Calendar solution that will work with outlook.com, outlook 2013, and on my nexus 5 android using all the default apps. I know there is no way to sync google calendar with outlook.com efficiently. I have a great ability to use outlook.com calendar in outlook 2013 and works perfect with the win 8.1 calendar app. Seems that there is no way to get it to work with my android phone so I can put appointments into the phone and have them show up on the actual outlook.com calendar...

Did you mean the Google Calendar app on your Nexus 5, or Google Calendar the service, similar to the calendar service provided by Outlook.com? The Calendar app on the Nexus 5 should be able to talk to outlook.com if you configure it as an Exchange account, then it should sync with outlook.com (unless you are running into this). OTOH, if you are talking about one calendar service to another calendar service, then I don't think any of them do them well and you may have to use a 3rd party app to push stuff from one calendar service to another.

I personally keep 2 calendar services and only view them both on my phone, the corporate one via Exchange, and my personal one on Google. I have my phone display both calendars. The thinking is that only on my phone will my work and personal lives intersect. You may have a different requirement though.

I do not use the service, just the android app on my phone. How do I setup exchange to do what you are suggesting? When I google it nothing helpful comes up.

I sorted it... For whatever reason I had to turn off viewing the calendars of my facebook and gmail to be able to edit my outlook calendar... Wish they had a tutorial on how to use that app as its one of the most important phone features.

Edit as in create new appointments, not edit existing appointments? When you create an appointment you need to select which calendar you are targetting. There should be a selection box for you to pick which calendar that the new appointment/event is going to. I don't have the stock Calendar app right here with me so I can't say for sure.

The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

Flying Fox wrote:Edit as in create new appointments, not edit existing appointments? When you create an appointment you need to select which calendar you are targetting. There should be a selection box for you to pick which calendar that the new appointment/event is going to. I don't have the stock Calendar app right here with me so I can't say for sure.

I used to do that, but my phone wouldn't update. I had to go through and turn off the google calendar and such then it would work. I know its not how its supposed to work but it was a work around I found. I'm not very happy with my phone. I just want to bring my ipad up to speed. I think its setup right need to run some tests on it this weekend.